AND THE LOWER ANIMALS. 189 



According to Jules Haime, the infusorian described 

 under the name of Oxytricha gibba is but a transition 

 form ; and even in reaching this condition, it has to 

 undergo other transformations.* Be that as it may, 

 Haime saw the Oxytricha reproduced by fission, and 

 he observed that at a given moment the individuals 

 thus produced became more and more inactive, became 

 contracted, and even encysted in a sort of flexible 

 shell secreted by the integument. At this period 

 the Oxytricha is but a small mass of living matter, 

 without a trace of organization, and enclosed within a 

 sphere which is about three-hundredths of a millimetre 

 in diameter. In the interior of this mass movements 

 take place, which, though imperceptible to the eye, 

 make themselves apparent by their results. 



By degrees, numbers of irregular granulations grow 

 from this species of ball ; a small cavity is developed 

 in the interior, and vibratile cilia begin to make their 

 appearance; new changes take place; the internal 



satisfy one's self, and this is exactly what M. Claparede does not 

 appear to have done ; for he alludes nowhere to contradictory 

 observations, and assuredly he could not fail to be acquainted with 

 them, did they exist. 



Jules Haime is no longer here to defend himself. He, too, was 

 taken from among us at an early age, leaving upon the minds of 

 all who were acquainted with him, or who had only studied his 

 numerous writings upon various branches of natural history, the 

 stern conviction that science sustained a serious loss by his removal 

 from the field of labour. I have merely discharged a duty, in 

 defending a work which cost him much time, and upon which he 

 bestowed great care. No one could more fully appreciate this 

 than Lachmann's former friend. 



* According to M. Pineau, the Oxytricha? are the result of the 

 metamorphosis of certain Vorticellse ; but this statement certainly 

 requires to be proved anew. 



